Just Seconds of Laughter Reveals Relationship Status: Laughter with Friends Sounds More Authentic and Less Vulnerable than Laughter with Romantic Partners.

The dual pathway model posits that spontaneous and volitional laughter are voiced using distinct production systems, and perceivers rely upon these system-related cues to make accurate judgments about relationship status. Yet, to our knowledge, no empirical work has examined whether raters can differentiate laughter directed at friends and romantic partners and the cues driving this accuracy. In Study 1, raters ( = 50), who listened to 52 segments of laughter, identified conversational partner (friend versus romantic partner) with greater than chance accuracy ( = 0.

Autoimmune conditions in the World Trade Center general responder cohort: A nested case-control and standardized incidence ratio analysis.

Background: The World Trade Center (WTC) general responder cohort (GRC) was exposed to environmental toxins possibly associated with increased risk of developing autoimmune conditions.

Objectives: Two study designs were used to assess incidence and risks of autoimmune conditions in the GRC.

Methods: Three clinically trained professionals established the status of possible GRC cases of autoimmune disorders adhering to diagnostic criteria, supplemented, as needed, by specialists' review of consenting responders' medical records.

Chest CT scan findings in World Trade Center workers.

We examined the chest CT scans of 1,453 WTC responders using the International Classification of High-resolution CT for Occupational and Environmental Respiratory Diseases. Univariate and bivariate analyses of potential work-related pleural abnormalities were performed with pre-WTC and WTC-related occupational exposure data, spirometry, demographics and quantitative CT measurements. Logistic regression was used to evaluate occupational predictors of those abnormalities.

Intravenous therapy: a review of complications and economic considerations of peripheral access.

Despite the growing frequency of intravenous (IV) injections, establishing peripheral IV access is challenging, particularly in patients with small or collapsed veins. Therefore, patients often endure failed attempts and eventually become venous depleted. Furthermore, maintaining patients' vascular access throughout treatment is difficult because a number of complications including phlebitis, infiltration, extravasation, and infections can occur.

Disaster 101: a novel approach to disaster medicine training for health professionals.

Background: Despite efforts to improve preparedness training for health professionals, disaster medicine remains a peripheral component of traditional medical education in the United States (US) and is a rarely studied topic in the medical literature.

Objectives: Using a pre-/post-test design, we measured the extent to which 4(th)-year medical students perceive, rapidly learn, and apply basic concepts of disaster medicine via a novel curriculum.

Methods: Via a modified Delphi technique, an expert curriculum panel developed a 90-min didactic training scenario and two 40-min training exercises for medical students: a hazardous material scene and a surprise mass casualty incident (MCI) scenario with 100 life-sized mannequins.

South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium Disaster Preparedness and Response Training Network: an emerging partner in preparedness training.

The South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium (SC AHEC) was funded in 2003 to train healthcare professionals in disaster preparedness and response. During the 5 years of funding, its Disaster Preparedness and Response Training Network evolved from disaster awareness training to competency-based instruction and performance assessment. With funding from the assistant secretary for preparedness and response (ASPR), a project with implications for national dissemination was developed to evaluate 2 aspects of preparedness training for community-based healthcare professionals.